tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19457872.post2557204361162764301..comments2018-02-24T18:37:17.159-05:00Comments on SpeEdChange: Changing Gears 2012: undoing academic timeIra David Socolhttps://plus.google.com/100145455899090230569noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19457872.post-26434449332269793002012-01-17T09:23:40.512-05:002012-01-17T09:23:40.512-05:00A mentor of mine once said, &quot;Time is the curr...A mentor of mine once said, &quot;Time is the currency of education&quot;. He was basically right (although just because you have time, doesn&#39;t mean learning will automatically take place.) Until schools divorce themselves from the tyranny of time, the focus of school will never be learning, it will continue to be coverage, i.e. I have to get here before then. I&#39;ve written about the perils of time before and very proud to work at a school that has made time a variable and not an absolute, but your post absolutely highlights the single most limiting factor in education. Great post. Thanks for sharing.Tony Baldasarohttp://www.transleadership.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19457872.post-91516304983699617292012-01-16T22:58:32.198-05:002012-01-16T22:58:32.198-05:00Last year my schedule became so segmented and regi...Last year my schedule became so segmented and regimented as a professional that even now that I&#39;ve changed positions I still get anxious thinking about it. As a specialist teacher providing prep periods for other teachers there was tacit disapproval of deviating even one minute from the clock. This whole post makes me really sad :( I was glad that the principal above is standing up to the system, but it is such a HUGE, IMMOVABLE system . . . sometimes it feels hard to know where to start affecting change when you are a cog in an enormous machine.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19457872.post-58889928310081367662012-01-16T11:38:26.551-05:002012-01-16T11:38:26.551-05:00I remember being a classroom teacher and enjoying ...I remember being a classroom teacher and enjoying the freedom of spending our day learning as we chose, with little outside interference, save for one scheduled special class and a lunch/recess block throughout our day.<br /><br />As a principal, with mandates of scheduling 30-minute intervention blocks, 45-min special education sessions, blah blah, the day of a classroom teacher and student in my school is highly fragmented. <br /><br />This is a huge step backwards, even though the justification for doing so is to ensure all students &quot;get what they need.&quot; I have teachers who are seeking to explore more project-based, innovative learning experiences with their children but feel stifled by the clock. <br /><br />If I don&#39;t run a schedule this way, I am at the mercy of my superiors asking why my schedule doesn&#39;t meet the criteria that the buildings in the rest of the district are expected to follow- the minutes we promised to abide by in our RtII application to the state and more blah blah blah. <br /><br />If we devoted more time to developing our teachers as professionals and respected our students&#39; autonomy and curiosity for learning, we could break free from the constraints of the school day, of class periods, of intervention blocks, of &quot;specials schedules.&quot; <br /><br />This is really frustrating for me as a school leader. I appreciate your thoughts in this post.Lyn Hilthttp://lynhilt.comnoreply@blogger.com